Carbon-removing means



W. F. RITTMAN AND C. B. BUTTON.

..CARBON REMOVING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB: 5, 1917.

Patented Feb. 3, 1920.-

INVENTORS wumaemw u new. em

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTERF. RITTMAN AND CLARENCE B. BUTTON, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA. I

for a considerable CARBON-REMOVING MEANS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 3, 1920.

Application filed February 5, 1917. Serial No 146,729.

- To all whom it may cone-em:

Be it known that we, WALTER F. Rrrr- MAN and CLARENCE B. Dc'r'rox, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, citizens of the United States, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Carb0n- Removing Means, of which improvements the following is a specification.

In the practice of the vapor-phase cracking process for the production of low boiling hydrocarbons from high boiling hydrocarbons, the reactions result in the formation of carbon, the percentage of the carbon in creasing or being greatest when the process is so carried out as to result in the formation of aromatic hydrocarbons. There will also be a considerable formation of carbon when treating certain heavy hydrocarbons, particularly those derived from so called asphaltic oil, regardless of the end product desired. The carbon thus set free adheres to the sides of the retort, and will soon form such a non-conducting coating as to prevent the proper heating of the vaporsin the retort. If subjected to the high temperature time in the retort, the carbon becomes baked and hardened, rendering its removal very diflicult.

The objectof the invention described herein is'to provide for the frequent removal and preferably continuous removal of the carbon adhering to the sides of the retort so that it may be discharged with vapors, latter. The invention is hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure l is a view partly in elevation and partly in section, showing a carbon remover arranged in a series of retorts,.. and showing a manner of connecting the carbon remover to a reciprocating means and also a manner or means for introducing oil into the retort; F i'g. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the mechanism for reciprocating and rotating this carbon remover, arranged below the retorts; Fig. 3 is a plan view of a scraping disk and Fig. 4: is a similar view of another form of scraper.

In the practice of the invention, a rod or shaft 1 extends through an end of the re-- tort 2 for practically the entire length of the retort. On this rod is secured a series of scrapers which consist preferably of rings etc., from the open lower end of the.

3 having an external diameter approximately equal to the internal diameter of the retort and supported by radial arms 4, projecting from the hub 5. This construction will permit of the carbon, when detached from the walls of the retort, passing down through the disk and out of the retort. In lieu of the construction shown in Fig. l,

the scrapers may be constructed with two diametrically arranged wings 6 secured to a central hub 7, as shown in Fig. 4. These disks are arranged so that the central line of the wings on one scraper will be 90 degrees from those on the next adjacent scraper. The peripheral length of each of these wings should be a little more than 90 degrees, so that the wings of one scraper will overlap those on the. next adjacent scraper. Any suitable means may be employed for reciprocating'the scraper-rod in the retorts. 'here a plurality of retorts are arranged in suitable proximity, the rods 1 maybe reciprocated, imparting a corresponding movementto the rodsby any suitable means, as for example, the rods or shafts 1 may be connected to a cross-head 10, which can be operated by a crank-11 on a driven shaft 12. The rods may be connected to the cross-head in any suitable manner. As for example, collars 13 are loosely mounted on the rods below shouldersH, and are connected to the cross-head by links 15.

The oil may be introduced into the retort in any suitable manner, that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 being convenient. The upper end of the rod 1 is made hollow for such a distance relative to the stroke of the rods that outlets 16 from the passage in the rod will be always within the retort; a pipe 17 having its upper end connected to an oil supply, extends down throu h a stuffing box 18 into the passage formed in the rod.

It will be understood that when the scrapers are constructed as shown in Fig. 3, the stroke of the rod 1 should be a little greater than the distance between adjacent scrapers. But when employing the construction shown in Fig. 4, where wings are arranged at difi'erent points around a supporting rod, the latter should be given a motion a little greater than twice the distance between the adjacent scrapers.

As shown in Fig. 2, the scraper-rod may extend up through the lower end of-the re-- tort, in which case the reciprocating means are connected to the lower end thereof.

When operating the rod for a plurality of retorts, the lower ends of the latter may be connected to any suitable reciprocating means, as for example, to a crosshead 19 which may be reciprocated in the manner shown in Fig, 1, or by a fluid pressure cylinder 20, as shown in Fig. 2. As in some cases it may be desired to not only rotate but also to reciprocate the scraping-rod, any convenient means may be employed for this purpose, as for example, the construction shown in Fig. 2 may be employed, such construction consisting of a sleeve 21 surrounding the rod 1 and provided with a spiral groove, into which a pin on the rod will project. By properly proportioning the pitch of the grooves and their extensions,

any desirable rotary movement may be imparted to the rod during the reciprocating movement. Where the rod projects up into the retort, the former may be employed for introducing the oil into the retort, as shown and described in W. F. Rittmans application Serial Number 146,723, filed Feb. 5, 1917, and in order to introduce oilinto the hollow rod, it is surrounded with a drum 22,

connected to any suitable source of oil sup' ply and the portion of the walls of the hollow rod within the drum are perforated so as to allow oil to flow from the latter into and up through the rod.

lVe claim herein as our invention:

1. In an apparatus for treating hydrocarbons, the combination of a tubular retort, a rod extending into and for substantially the entire length of the retort, a plurality of scrapers secured to said rod and means for reciprocating and oscillating the rod.

2. In an apparatus for treating hydrocarbons, the combination of a tubular retort, a

rod extending into said retort, said rod having a longitudinal passage and outlets from such passage arranged to discharge within the retort, scraping means secured to the rod, means for forcing liquid into said passage and means for reciprocating the rod. In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands.

WALTER F. RITTMAN. CLARENCE B. DUTTON. 

